The Aftermath
by Paper Stories
Summary: The War is won, but the battle begins. A fic following the ever merging Weasley/Potter clan and Ron/Hermione's developing relationship immediately after the battle of Hogwarts. M for later however this is NOT smut. Post DH
1. Return To The Burrow

_**NOTE TO READERS -** I plan to make this as real to the books, and to typical British life as I can. There will be swears and sexual content eventually, although not as idealised as it may be in some other fanfiction. I want to take a more realist approach.  
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_Enjoy!_

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**HERMIONE'S P-O-V**

I laid there. I kept my breathing slow as to not disturb Ronald; whose head rested on my stomach. He was exhausted from the many differing emotions he had been through throughtout today. I was just glad that he managed to drift off at all.

If you weren't there at the time, it was difficult to imagine how it felt; I find that it is also rather difficult to explain.

The 2nd of May 1998.

The Battle Of Hogwarts.

The end of Second Wizarding War.

The downfall of the Dark Lord.

It was clear that this day would go down in history as one of the greatest triumphs of Wizard kind. However, how would the families who lost their loved ones ever cope? How could we cope, what with the losses we had suffered? Will each of the deceased be remembered in the history books for what they were, as heroes?

The Weasleys, a close knit family who lost one of their own, were of course all deeply distraught. But most troubled of all was George. How could he cope without his twin brother? His partner in crime. His best friend.

Little Teddy Lupin, his whole future ahead of him without a mother or father, but with the prospect of a new, safer world in which he never need fear; thanks in part to the sacrifice of his parents.

Many other families were broken and many more killed in the battle; people who had their whole lives ahead of them, who knows what they could have accomplished? Where would their lives have taken them if they had not been prematurely taken _from _them? One didn't know whether to celebrate the victory, to comfort the survivors or to mourn the losses; it was an impossible feeling.

We returned to the Burrow together. We were all family now, in as strange sort of way; we had all gone through it together. Ron and I, Harry, Fleur and the rest of the Weasley family who had made it out alive. Andromeda also came to The Burrow that night with her little grandson Teddy; she felt it best that she wasn't left alone that night after the death of her daughter. Percy gracefully offered up his room for the two of them to sleep in.

Harry had stayed up with Ginny all night, which of course he was more than happy to do. Since he had gotten all the sleep he would need earlier on today at Hogwarts, it was the _least_ that he could do. Although, of course, his sleep was well deserved after the events of the last two days. I could hear the muffled sounds of them talking below for hours, although I couldn't really make out what it was they were saying.

Ginny was finding it difficult. She spent the whole day yesterday comforting her mother while the others helped to move the bodies. It distracted her from the fact that she couldn't bring herself to cry. She felt guilty because of her lack of emotion, but Harry and I tried to assure it was just the way that some people dealt with death. However, no matter how many times Harry repeated this, she still felt that she should be feeling more.

As I passed her room on the way to the kitchen to get a glass of water for Ron and I earlier on that night, I heard her say "Fred would be ashamed of me Harry, I know he would."

George was inconsolable. He spent the night downstairs with his mother, father, Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Percy. They all tried to stay strong and sat with him around the fire until morning. He was so distressed that it was making him ill, I could hear him wailing out Fred's name and retching all throughout the night.

I laid with Ron that night in his single bed, tucked tight under his Chudley Cannon bedsheets. They were hand made by Molly several Christmases ago. She had knitted Fred and George matching bobble hats that year; they thought they were the most disgusting things they had ever laid their eyes on, and that they would be better suited as dishcloths. Who would ever had guessed it would end like this back then?

I felt helpless; I wanted to make it all go away so that he would smile his wonderful smile again but all I could do was hold him as he cried. It hit him hard when we returned home in the late evening yesterday with Freds body. I rocked him side to side like a mother would cradle her child as he shook in my arms, sobbing. I cared so much for Ron, and I couldn't bear to see him like that.

The sun soon rose; the night passed swiftly unlike all those sleepless nights spent in the tent. The nights after Ron left felt like they would never end. I found that I hadn't even dozed off for a moment, yet I still felt as alert as a hawk. Ron stirred and mumbled something about curtains under his breath. I couldn't stifle a small giggle, which woke him up fully. I was so glad he was awake, I didn't need to dwell on my thoughts any longer. He lifted his head from my chest, revealing the tear soaked button-up pajama top of his that he'd lent me to sleep in. I looked into his eyes. They were red, bloodshot, swollen. Cuts, dirt and bruises were still very much visible all over his face.

"'Mione," he said softly. I nodded. "Promise me you won't tell Harry what a state I was in."

"Don't be ridiculous Ronald," I replied in a whisper, with a smile. "He wouldn't blame you for it anyway!"

"I'd be lost if anything happened to you." He cracked a slight smile as his ears turned slightly pink, a smile meant a lot at a time like this. He lowered his head back onto my chest and sighed.

We could just keep that moment, for a while. The moment I had waited for so long to enjoy, until we were forced to return to the reality of the broken family, but a brand new world, which dwelled down the staircase beneath us.

"Thank you, Ron."

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**RON'S P-O-V**

It was hard to breathe, think or even see at that point. My eyes felt like they'd been filled with bits of broken glass and prickled with pain at each blink, like you get when you go swimming for too long without goggles on. I felt Hermione's chest rise and fall with each intake of breath. That meant she was still here, still breathing. Here, with her, I could forget that Fred would never breathe again, just for now. I was still as sad as ever, but I don't think I could have cried any more if I had tried.

I felt like I was being punched in the stomach each time I heard George yell out downstairs. The sort of feeling you get when you fall and your heart seems to skip a beat.

_Shit, there he goes again._

I tried my hardest to work up the courage to go down there and see if there was anything I could do, but I just couldn't. I was hurting too. I felt as if I was glued to my bed, glued to her, and I was actually kind of glad. That sounds awful, but I was. It was warm here, and I had Hermione. It was quiet for a long time, calm. I was glad we didn't really speak about the kiss...

"Ron?"

"Bloody hell!" I jumped at the sudden sound of her voice, and wondered if she could read my mind.

_Well, she __**is **__brilliant, she could probably do anything if she tried hard enough. _

Then I remembered her dislike for Divination classes and felt a bit less worried. She let out a small, quiet laugh at my slight over-reaction.

"I think we should go talk to Ginny, we might be able to help Harry calm her down a little, now you've got your sleep," she whispered, nodding her head towards the door. I silently agreed.

I was still wearing dirty blood stained clothes. I hoped it was only my blood. I couldn't bear to think... couldn't bring myself to change, what was the point? Hermione however looked at me awkwardly as she reached over to the pile of her clothes which lay beside my bed (neatly folded of course, that's Hermione.) She had changed last night in the dark so I wasn't quite sure what to do. Was it ok for me to watch, was that weird? Should I leave? She might just have been in here with me as a friendly gesture. _Do friends let friends lay on them like that? _

_Maybe the kiss was just a...a heat of the moment kind of thing? Oh bollocks... _

She hadn't even spoken about the kiss since, I was happy about this at first but now the thought of it gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach.

I wasn't sure where I stood with Hermione anymore. I laughed and tried to look less flustered about the whole thing and turned away to face the door. This was a good idea as I could feel my cheeks and my ears burning as blood rushed to them. This was all very embarrassing. I heard her unbuttoning my pajama shirt and throwing it down on the bed.

_Who knew she could still look that lovely in my scabby old clothes? _

A sudden realization rushed over me. Hermione Granger was naked... in my bedroom... I mean she was behind me... and she was _naked_. Well, not fully naked, but as good as!

_I had a dream that went like this once, but I certainly wasn't just stood there like a lemon staring at the door! _

I noticed I was getting a little too excited and hummed quietly to myself in an attempt to forget what was going on only inches behind my back.

"Right...er..." Hermione mumbled before she let out an uncomfortable chuckle, "Shall we?" She motioned towards the door and I swiftly exited with her following close behind me.

As we both made our way down the stairs, we passed Fred and George's old room. I could smell a faint trace of gun powder and some other strong smelling foul odor, clearly from some sort of stink bomb they were testing out for the shop before they left. I was used to this, although in the past year away I've sort of missed it. Odd. What would happen to Wheezes now? God knows. All I know is George can't waste all that hard work and effort, Fred wouldn't want that. But it was alright, we didn't need to think about stuff such as that yet.

_We have the funeral first... well... funerals. Bloody hell._

I became aware that I was stood motionless in front of the door of their bedroom without even giving my feet the permission to stop. Hermione reached down and squeezed my hand.

"D...do you want to go in?" She whispered, her voice wavering a little. I shook my head, probably to her relief.

He was in there.

Mum and Dad thought it best we brought him home, just for today. It wasn't really him though, not anymore, was it? She lead me by the hand down the rest of the steps to Ginnys room. On the way there I managed to glance at my brother as we passed by, George's face broke my heart. Pale, almost grey tinted skin. Blank, staring, lifeless eyes. He was lost without Fred. Half dead on the inside.

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**This is my first ever fic, so please give me a review so I can work on my writing skills. Please? Tell me what you liked about it, what you didn't like about it. I'll try and update as soon as possible, probably within the next few days so keep following as Chapter 2 will be here soon!**

**Thanks to Taryn (.com) for the help!**


	2. Little Teddy Lupin

**CHAPTER 2 – LITTLE TEDDY LUPIN - **_Sorry this took a while, the next one is already half finished as you read this. Reviews would be lovely, and might speed up my writing, thanks!_

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**HERMIONE'S P-O-V**

I pulled Ron by his hand down towards Ginny's room. I knew he would need a little persuading to come down from the safety of his cocoon, but his little sister needed him. Tapping on the door lightly I heard Ginny's whisper from within.

"Shh! He's sleeping... come in."

I was confused, as Harry certainly wasn't sleeping; I knew this for sure, I had heard his voice only minutes ago from upstairs. I twisted the brass door knob and opened it to find Ginny and Harry sat closely together; looking lovingly at a tiny face.

Ginny was holding baby Teddy in her arms, barely even a month old. She looked up at me with love in her eyes.

"Isn't he gorgeous? His hair keeps fading between pink and blue and then back to black again. Fast asleep! Doesn't even know he's doing it!" said Ginny quietly, as not to wake the baby in her arms, "Andromeda's downstairs warming up his bottle, she told us to try not to wake him."

Harry got up from beside Ginny and walked towards Ron, who was still stood by the door with his hands in his pockets. He pulled him into a tight hug.

"I wish yesterday could have gone differently." he whispered sympathetically, clearly unsure of what he should be saying to his best friend after he had lost his brother.

Ron pulled away from the hug and patted a hand on Harry's shoulder, "There was nothing we could do mate. What happened yesterday made sure the rest of us could live life properly from now on. I'm proud of Fred for fighting, and, I think he'd be proud of what he did, even though we all wish it hadn't ended that way."

Teddy stirred slightly in his sleep, everyone stopped moving and speaking as if they were all playing musical statues, Teddy gave out a tiny sigh and continued his rest happily.

Relieved, Harry looked up from the tiny sleeping face and whispered to Ron, "Metamorphmagi are apparently supposed to start imitating at about 6 months old, Andromeda told us this morning when she came down. You know, copying other people's nose shapes and stuff like that. It's going to be brilliant, isn't it?"

It was really sweet how excited Ginny and Harry seemed to get around Teddy. Of course, Harry was his godfather; he seemed to look at him as lovingly as he might do with a child of his own.

I wondered what it would be like when Harry and Ginny had children. I realised what I was thinking just seemed somehow insane, but right. They would make the most wonderful parents in the world.

A strange scene popped into my head which made me chuckle quietly. Harry and Ginny stood on the pitch at Hogwarts, brooms in their hands, surrounded by the world's youngest Quidditch team. The team was compiled entirely of ginger, freckled, messy haired children wearing circular lenses. Ron threw me a look that reminded me of a confused puppy.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later." I whispered, whilst attempting to suppress another giggle.

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**RON'S P-O-V**

_Mental she is, mental, but I love it._

Hermione's smile could manage to cheer me up even at a time like this. Whenever I saw that smile I always thought of how it used to look when we were kids, how her front teeth stuck out and made her look like a cute little squirrel or something... That might sound a bit daft. I thought she looked perfect either way, obviously. It was thanks to Malfoy that they looked this way now.

I wished I could go back and hex Malfoy on the spot, give him the big head he always acted like he had. Unfortunately I didn't have a time turner at hand. Andromeda came in the room struggling with a plate of toast, a mug of what looked like tea, and a baby's bottle. Harry rushed over to help her, taking the mug and the plate of toast on the table beside the bed.

"Ah, thank you very much Harry my love." Andromeda whispered, "Molly says she wants you lot down for your breakfast, that you need your strength at a time like this, I wouldn't argue with her."

_That reminds me, I've not eaten for about 20 hours!_

I was surprised I wasn't wasting away. This really wasn't like me at all... but obviously my mind was on more important things. My stomach rumbled and Harry gave me an amused, knowing look as I rubbed my stomach with a frown on my face.

"Oh An'... can't I stay a while longer?" Asked Ginny, as she handed a sleeping Teddy gently over to Andromeda to be fed, "I need to know how to feed him, you know, if Harry and I end up looking after him a lot!"

_Harry and I? _

Even now, after everything, it seemed strange that there would be a Harry and Ginny outside of Hogwarts. That my sister might be a Potter one day and that she was talking as though they would be living together, looking after Harrys godson. But I s'pose it's better that it's Harry, my best mate, and not some random git stealing my little sisters innocence.

_Who I'm I kidding... She's about as innocent as a bloody Veela. Eurgh no, horrible mental images!_

I began to understand why Ginny was begging Andromeda to stay up here; she didn't want to join the rest of the family downstairs. I could feel a twinge of fear in my stomach on top of the hunger, which told me that I felt the same.

I sighed, I realised that it was my job as the "big brother" to help get Ginny through this.

"It's alright sis, it's going to have to happen sometime, let's get it over with." I said softly as a stretched out my arm leading her slowly through the doorway, followed by a sombre Harry and Hermione, although beneath the sadness I felt as though I could see a flicker of pride in Hermione's eyes, which spurred me onward down a path I didn't want to take, into the belly of the beast.


	3. The Belly Of The Beast

**CHAPTER 3 – THE BELLY OF THE BEAST - OBJECTIVE POV **_  
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"Ginny. Ron. Hermione. Harry. Sit down, sit down, sit down. I've extended the table, don't worry, there's room for everyone dears." Molly said, nodding at Harry and Hermione.

"Mum I..." Ginny started, but was cut off by her mother,

"Now, Ginny, let's just sit down and eat, enjoy breakfast together. Just sit down. Everyone sit down. Sit down. Thaaat's it. Everyone comfy? Good, good."

Molly's eyes were slightly puffy and red, she was visibly not in any state to run around for anyone. Yet she still flapped about the kitchen of the Burrow as everyone took their seats quietly, everyone but George that is, who was sat on the sofa with his head in his hands.

"I... erm... I'm going to have to apologise for the wait, I don't know if we even have enough plates... this ruddy kitchen! Can never find a thing!" she feigned a laugh with pain clearly showing behind her eyes,

Everyone exchanged uncomfortable glances as Molly continued to recklessly dart about the kitchen collecting enough cutlery for everyone to eat upon.

"Mum... mum, let me..." Bill said softly, standing up from the table and guiding his mother his seat next to Fleur.

Molly wiped her damp forehead with her arm and gave in. Everyone sat quietly, seemingly all incredibly interested in random objects on the table. Percy was staring intently at a candle holder while Harry seemed to be fascinated by finding out what time it was according to the clock on the wall.

With a wave of his wand the plates were distributed by Bill and filled with different variations of cereal, he then pulled up a chair once again. Arthur shuffled in his seat next to Ginny and Harry, and began to speak to the room.

"I feel like we should properly address this... this... situation. We can't repress what we're all feeling, it will only make things worse." His voice quivered, he seemed to be staying the most strong. "I think maybe if we said a few words, talked about a few memories, it might get a little easier. "

Ginny took a deep breath, "But dad, right now, I don't know what to say, I don't even know what I should feel. I can't even shed a tear for my own brother." Arthur held his daughters hand upon the table and squeezed it lightly.

"At times like zis, you do not _have_ to feel anythink Ginevra." Said Fleur kindly, "Sometimes it is better to just remember vat it is zat you did feel. Zat is all zat matters."

Hermione nudged Ron in the ribs softly and whispered so that no-one else could hear, "That's a bit deep for phlegm isn't it?"

Hermione thought she saw Ron crack a bit of a smile. Fleur turned her head towards George, and so did everyone else at the table. "George... vat is it that you felt for Fred before it 'appened?"

"I... I felt proud." George lifted his head up and squinted as though he was looking into a bright light, gazing out at no-one in particular. "Proud... proud that he was there to fight, proud that he was part of Potterwatch, giving people everywhere...giving them... giving them hope, Proud that we managed to make a business out of something that we loved."

She catapulted out of her seat, colliding with George on the sofa with her arms around him.

Molly burst into loud sobs, speaking with great difficulty in-between breaths, "I... am... so... proud... of both... of both of you...I know I didn't like what you were doing at first, but you...did...you did me and your father proud George."

"Wow Mum. Suffocation; not really the best way to show your son that you love him is it?"

"I'm proud that you have the strength to say those wonderful things about your brother George. We Weasley's are made of stronger stuff than most people think." Arthur winked at Ron.

Ginny leant against her father while they all ate their breakfasts and he rubbed her back lovingly as if winding a baby after it had been fed.

Although of course they felt no happier, and the silence resumed, yet the room seemed a lot less tense now that the taboo had been broken.

Just as all the plates were almost clean a majestic snowy owl dove in through the window, reminding Harry painfully of Hedwig. Two envelopes with Ministry Of Magic seals were dropped on the table, and the owl swooped back out again.

The two Letters were addressed to "The Weasley Family" and "Andromeda Tonks". Arthur tore open their letter while Bill rushed upstairs to deliver the other letter to Andromeda. Arthur read the Weasleys letter aloud to the table, as it was addressed to all of them.

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**May 3rd 1998**

**The Weasley Family,**

**I am writing to you all to express my deepest condolences for the losses you have suffered, and also to thank each and every one of you who helped us towards victory against Lord Voldemort during The Battle of Hogwarts.**

**We in the Wizarding world are now in a brand new era. Molly and Arthur -our world is safer thanks to you and your son Fred and all of the other heroes who were lost fighting so valiantly for our shared cause. Because of this, we believe that each person who died for our freedom should be honoured for what they gave to us all in life, courtesy of The Ministry of Magic.**

**Each family of the brave men and women who died are to receive a sum of money to help pay for funeral costs, which will be received within the next few days. Although it is clear that it will not make your grieving any easier, we feel that it is our duty to you assist in the best way that we can.**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**MINISTER FOR MAGIC**

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"I always knew he'd make a great minister, old Kingsley. He'll be doing things the right way, mark my words." said Arthur, as he reached the end of the letter and Molly muttered "Wonderful man, wonderful." Whilst dabbing her eyes with a quickly disintegrating ball of tissue she had screwed up in her hand.

Just at that moment another owl flew in, this time a brown barn owl, carrying another Ministry marked letter which was addressed to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron pulled the envelope from the owl's beak and Hermione rose from her chair, nudging Ron softly.

"Maybe we should read this in private?" Hermione said, nodding at Harry. "Thanks a lot for the breakfast Mrs Weasley."

The three scrambled their way upstairs, all quietly wondering what would merit them a separate letter. Ron pushed open the door to his room and gazed down at the discarded pyjamas' on his bedroom floor with a wistful look.

Hermione gestured Harry to sit and the three parked themselves on Ron's unmade bed, Ron in the middle of the trio with his red head brushing slightly against the sloped ceiling. Each began to read in the quiet.

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**May 3rd 1998**

**Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley,**

**As I have now been awarded the position of Minister for Magic I have passed my first decree. It is not to be announced until a week from today, however I thought that the three of you - of all people - deserved to be the first to be told.**

** I have heard of your experiences in the past year, news –or shall we call it "gossip" – travels fast, and trust me, I will ensure that the three of you are heralded as heroes for the rest of your days.**

**Due to the bravery of you and our fellow wizards in the Battle of Hogwarts I felt it was only right that each warrior should be rewarded. Therefore every man, woman and creature who fought in the name of the Wizarding world have be given a chance to become a Ministry Auror, even without the usual compulsory qualifications.**

**If you choose not to take me up on this offer right away it will stand for the entirety of my time in office, you may request a position at any time by owl or in person. You will of course still need to pass an assessment to ensure you are competent enough to take part in training. However I am sure due to your vast experience in fighting against dark wizards that the assessment will be no problem for the three of you.**

**You may however be planning to return to Hogwarts to take your NEWT's as many other students of your age will be. I will ensure that 7th year students of the 1997-1998 academic year are able to merge with the year below as a result of the lack of proper teaching.**

**If any of these propositions are of interest to you please respond as soon as possible and we will be able to set up a date to start training you as Aurors or add you to the list of those returning to their studies.**

** Yours,**

**Kingsley Shacklebolt**

**MINISTER FOR MAGIC**

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"Harry, that's brilliant, you can be an Auror now." Ron said grinning up at Harry as he took the note from his hands, staring at it in disbelief, "But me... Ron Weasley, an Auror? You know, I think I'd like that. Hermione, what do you think?"

"I can't." said Hermione coldly, "I _have_ to take my newts."

Ron stared at her in disbelief, screwing up his face like she'd said the most insane thing in the world, "But it says right there, you don't need any qualifications. You don't _have _to do anything! What's the point in wasting your time with rubbish school stuff?"

"The point is _Ronald_ I want to prove that I am capable of getting the grades. I don't want all those years of studying to account for nothing! Anyway, whoever said that I even wanted to be an Auror anyway?" Hermione huffed, it was easy to see that she was tired and therefore easily riled, Ron knew better than to push his luck when she was like this.

"Alright, Alright, don't get your knickers in a twist Hermione. I was just asking!" Said Ron in an intentionally cheerful tone.

"Er, should l leave you two to have a nice little chat about Hermione's knickers?" Said Harry with a chuckle.

"Shut up Harry. Come on, I'll find you some parchment and an envelope so you can send an pigwidgeon back with your reply. I think I'm gonna consider my options first though."

Ron walked out onto the landing with Harry as Hermione huffed and laid down on his bed behind him. When they were both out of earshot he whispered. "Think it's best to leave her, when she's tired she gets as violent as a pissed off Grindylow."

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_This is dedicated to __rhr4everhr for the lovely review that brightened up my day._ _This chapter is from an objective point of view. Enjoy & review! This was difficult to write so be gentle with me reviewers!_


	4. Toast

**CHAPTER 4 – TOAST – _RONS P-O-V_**

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The next 2 hours were spent in the living room with Harry writing draft after draft of his letter of application. He was properly freaking out, shows how much he wanted the job really. In my eyes it was a given. I mean, he's the boy who lived, the chosen one, he defeated Voldemort _twice. _If anything I should be the one worrying.

I told him, I said, "Kingsley's not gonna be turning you down because you misspelled a word or missed out a comma, you were the one who won us the war you prat!"

"I want this on my own merit though Ron. I'm don't want to be just let in automatically, that wouldn't be fair and I wouldn't deserve it!" Harry said, tapping the neatly written piece of parchment with his wand, "There, that's it, done. It's finally done." It folded up and placed itself into an envelope addressed to the minister. I stared at him in feigned disbelief.

"Are you _sure _it's finished Harry? You don't want to use another 500 checking spells first?" I said sarcastically, "I half expected you to use up all the paper in the bloody house _THEN_ conjure up some more out of the tree's in the garden."

He laughed and I looked in the direction of the staircase apprehensively, "Maybe I should wake Hermione up, then I can send both of your letters together. I doubt Pig would be up for two journeys and Errol will be half dead when she comes back from delivering Dad and Andromeda's letters."

Harry studied the envelope, doubly checking the address and passed it to me, "I could trust Hegwig with important letters like this... I don't think I'm going to be able to replace her."

"I know how you feel mate, but at least she didn't turn into a dodgey looking middle aged man. You don't know how long it took me to explain that one to mum when I got home after 3rd year!" I joked, before the conversation was allowed to turn sour. Thankfully Harry was receptive of it and let out a soft laugh under his breath.

"As for Hermione," He said, If you want to get your head bitten off mate, that's your choice, but I'd never wake a tired Hermione up without a pretty good reason... Could you get her to take a look at that before you seal it?"

I wasn't going to get Hermione to check, but he didn't need to know that if she spotted any errors that would only make him more paranoid. I nodded and Harry strolled out into the Garden where Ginny was feeding the chickens, no doubt he wanted to take his mind off his application, I suspect that he'd never manage that though.

"Accio parchment!" I called, I summoning some pieces of parchment from a desk in the living room and picking up the quill Harry had been using from the coffee table.

I climbed the stairs up towards my room, I thought that It would be polite to knock; but I could hear Hermione's shallow breathing through the door and felt it might be a bit of a rude awakening. I twisted the door handle slowly and pushed it open with a near silent _click. _

She was fast asleep. I felt a little odd, just standing there watching her without her permission, surely that's something only weirdos do? I remembered the times in the tent when Harry was on watch. I spent hours laying on my bunk trying to work up the courage to wake her up, just to talk on our own for once; without Harry. She looked so peaceful. Her arms thrown up over her head and one of her legs sticking out of the covers at an odd angle, the sight was almost laughable. If only she could see herself now.

"_Hermione._" I whispered, I felt bad that I had to wake her, but she wouldn't sleep tonight otherwise. She breathed a quiet sigh and rolled onto her side, curling up into a ball and pulling her arms in towards her chest. "..._Hermione_?"

You'd think she was deaf. I approached the bed slowly, almost on tip-toes and crouched beside the bed leaning in towards her face.

"_Hermione!_"

In a matter of moments it had happened. She gasped and grabbed her wand from the bedside as her eyes snapped open, she sent a spell which pushed me backwards against my bedside cabinet causing me to bang the side of my head on one of the blunt corners.

"STUPEF...RON!"

"ARGH! Fuck, shit, bollocks. Ow." I yelled, grabbing at my head. She bolted upright on the bed, staring at me in horror as though she had just accidently stood on a defenceless rabbit.

"Ron, Merlin, I am _so _sorry! I almost knocked you out..." she said breathlessly, ("Really? I didn't notice!") she reached out her arm and pulled me upright onto the bed beside her. She got onto her hands and knees and leant around me, stroking my face and apologising repeatedly before searching my head in attempt to find any terrible injury she might have caused.

"I'm just so used to being on full alert. I've still not got used to the fact that we're safe." She said, pulling at strands of orange hair trying to find any signs of bleeding.

At that moment I didn't give two shits about the throbbing pain hammering continually at the side of my head, all I could think about was her head hovering right in front of my face. How I could smell her hair as it tickled my chin, wanting desperately to pull her by the waist and have her sat infront of me.

"It's nothing Hermione," I said as my eyes caught the attention of hers, "I've had a lot worse in the past few months. A bang on the head is pretty tame compared to being splinched!"

Her eyes flickered with embarrassment as she realised what a compromising position she was in. She cleared her throat and sat back a little next to me on the bed. "Yes, yes I suppose so. Still, I'm sorry... Erm, so, what is it that you woke me for?"

"OH. Yeah, the vicious, unprovoked attack threw me off track a bit." I said as she smiled, I pushed the paper into her hands. "I just wanted to see if you needed some parchment, you know, for your letter to Kingsley. It'll be best to send yours and Harry's together; Pig wouldn't be able to handle two return trips to London, he's a scrawny little bugger, and Errol wont be able to handle anything at all by the time he gets back."

Hermione huffed through her nose and shook her head. "Language." she said in a wearied voice, rolling her eyes. She knew it wouldn't stop me, no matter how many times she said it. "What about _your_ letter?"

I slid down on the bed, laying sideways and leaning my head against the slanting ceiling behind me. "I dunno... I s'pose I don't know if I'm up to it. I mean, Harry is made for a job like that, and then there's me." I shrugged.

"Ronald Weasley! You need to have confidence in your abilities! Don't be such an idiot"

"Oh, thanks, being called an idiot really helps with the whole 'confidence in abilities' thing." I laughed and she nudged my arm with her hand.

"OH, you know what I mean Ron, and don't pretend you don't. Harry might have been the one who ended this war but without you he wouldn't even have got close."

"Without me running away you mean?" I rolled over onto my side, away from Hermione, facing the cabinet that had almost pierced my skull a few minutes beforehand.

Hermione laughed and placed her hand on my shoulder, "You need to let that go Ron, Harry and I have... Now stop sulking and bring me some breakfast!" She pushed me forward, almost rolling me onto the floor.

I steadied myself and got to my feet smiling at her. "I'm not a slave you know, I'm not here to bring you parchment and toast any time you need it. But I suppose if you asked a little more nicely I could oblige."

"Ron could you possibly bring me up some toast... _PLEASE.._. with marmalade?" She nodded her head at me politely.

"That's a bit better, but you do realise it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon right? It's more like brunch... or brinner, I whatever you'd like to call it" I chuckled as I began to slide the door closed behind me.

"...and a cup of tea, 2 sugars." She squeaked, looking throughly pleased to have someone to wait on her every need.

I looked back in and raised my eyebrows. "When it's a house elf it's cruelty, but not Ron...! You'll need to start an organisation for the promotion of Ron Weasley's welfare next! "

"Oh do take your time Ronald, I've got all day!"

Hermione and sarcasm, not often seen together but I had a feeling I had a lot more of this sort of thing to come. She burst out in laughter from behind the door.

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_Please Review? I'm currently in the learning stage so it would really help, thanks!_


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